Holy Spirit Spoke, "They are the Spiritual Matriarchs of the Women of the Family Now"

The Spiritual Matriarchs of the Family

Good morning!  I wanted to share with you, something my daughter, told me after Dad's funeral.  Tria said, "While everyone was listening to Pastor Kirk, that God had her look directly at Helen, Janice and I (Debi) and then the Holy Spirit gave her the feeling of overwhelming gratitude for us, as He said, "They are the Spiritual Matriarchs of the Women of the family now".  Isn't that powerful!!!  I told Janice and hadn't told Helen yet, until the Lord brought it to my attention,  on Helen's birthday and was able to share it with her.

I looked up the meaning of matriarch and found a study below by Cheryl Dickon, Women of the Bible Who Are Considered Matriarchs of the Faith.  Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, who are matriarchs of the faith, provide a remarkable insight into God’s commitment to women and His interest in how women play an integral part in His plan for mankind. These women are often called the “women of the tent” and they embodied what we  might call “feminine genius.”

These incredible women teach us both about the roots of our faith but also how our faith has unfolded so that we, as Christian women today, can live more fully for Christ. For a Christian man, understanding the roles of the matriarchs is no less important because it is through this understanding that the male/female relationships are revealed. 

Sarah was a woman whose life’s goal was to have a child. The Talmud teaches that Sarah, along with Abraham, was a great converter of people to the monotheistic religion of Judaism. She is credited with saving many souls as she converted innumerable people from their pagan beliefs to monotheism.

Additionally, Sarah’s own faith was such that she accompanied Abraham as he answered God’s call to leave Ur and journey to the Promised Land. Abraham heard directly from God but Sarah relied on faith alone to make the journey and thus won great favor from God. Her faith was an admirable and necessary quality as she was to be the woman to whom countless generations would be born.

Throughout her life, Sarah was said to have been a beautiful woman whose generous spirit welcomed neighbors and thus witnessed in such a way that many were converted. Sarah’s spirit teaches us how to extend that same generosity towards others today as we live as daughters of the King. She was the first woman to light Sabbath candles which are meant to bring light to the home—something uniquely inherent in a Jewish woman’s role as wife and mother. Today, as Jewish households light their Sabbath candles, parents often confer the following blessing on their daughters: May God make you like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah. This blessing shows that Jewish homes understand how powerful a woman can be and remind daughters that when they live their lives serving God, they are always able to bring peace, harmony and “light” to their families and friends.

These incredible women teach us both about the roots of our faith but also how our faith has unfolded so that we, as Christian women today, can live more fully for Christ. For a Christian man, understanding the roles of the matriarchs is no less important because it is through this understanding that the male/female relationships are revealed.

Sarah’s beloved son Isaac grows into a young man who marries Rebekah. We see, quite pointedly in Scripture, that Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah occurs very near to the time of Sarah’s death. Rebekah is meant to carry Sarah’s mantle and continue the line of the Matriarchs. Rebekah is a devoted wife and hers is a marriage filled with loving-kindness, often called chesed. Through Sarah’s marriage to Abraham and Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac we are shown the great value God puts upon the union of a man and a woman and how they are meant to work, as partners, towards God’s goals for mankind.

Rebekah teaches us the value of devotion. She has great faith and courage to leave her family home and journey to Isaac’s land. Rebekah encourages us to embrace our roles as mothers, wives, sisters, and friends. Rebekah’s intuitive nature allows her to understand her own role as a daughter of the King and how to live it most fully.

Rebekah gives birth to twins, Esau and Jacob. While some see her as “stealing” the blessings from oldest son Esau in favor of youngest son Jacob, it is probably more accurate to state that Rebekah “knew” and responded to God’s call upon Jacob — as revealed to her during her pregnancy. “Knowing” such things are, once again, inherently female as witnessed by the matriarchs who, in their “knowing,” were strong and competent women.

Jacob falls in love with Rachel but is tricked into marrying her older sister, Leah. Although Jacob eventually marries Rachel as well, it is Leah to whom God continually blesses as Leah gives birth to more than half of the men to whom the tribes of Israel will issue. The Talmud teaches that each sister, Rachel and Leah, brings a particular aspect of the divine feminine into the lineage of God’s people. Rachel is by all accounts very strong-willed and strong-minded. It is Rachel who cries out from the heavens, generations later, as Pharaoh slaughters infant Hebrew baby boys in Egypt while it is Leah who steadfastly becomes the mother of many of the tribes of Israel.

Leah is a woman whose own interests all came second to God’s. She is sometimes referred to as “teary-eyed” or with “weepy” eyes but mystics point to this more as her being a recipient of the Holy Spirit than her being sad; although some combination of each interpretation is probably most accurate. Leah’s willingness to follow God’s plan allowed her to become the mother of more than half the tribes of Israel and give birth to Judah. It is from the lineage of Judah that the King of Kings would be born!

The Matriarchs, each in her own way, shed light on what it means to live as a woman of God. The Matriarchs were powerful women who were responsive to God and were committed to their families and friends. They were resilient women given their different and unique circumstances and noble in both their joy and in their suffering. They diligently worked with God and were wise in understanding God’s call upon their lives. Ultimately they were loving, self-giving women. When a man honors and respects a woman’s role as matriarch in her own family, he is honoring God’s call upon that woman. Likewise, when a woman honors the man’s role as husband and father; brother and son, she is also bringing the necessary peace, truth and light into her domestic church.

Being a matriarch of a family is a badge of honor and one to be worn with pride and dignity. John Paul II often wrote of a woman’s feminine genius and the ways in which her “gift of self” could be one of the truest way in which mankind could come to know, love, and serve God. During his papacy John Paul II wrote many documents in which he wished to share the divine plan that was placed upon women. When we look to the Matriarchs we see that divine plan in action; we see how serving God brings true joy to our lives because we become who God meant us to be: conduits between heaven and earth.

ARTICLE BY CHERYL DICKOW

Women in Spiritual Leadership

The Dignity of Women in the Bible

A Perspective Ahead of Its Time Upon perusing the pages of the Bible, one is immediately taken with the high value and dignity afforded women in its pages. And considering that these pages were written thousands of years ago, it is that much more enlightening. How must the original readers have perceived its message? For its message regarding women was in stark contrast to philosophies of the times in which it was written (1,400BC—100AD). It was a perspective well ahead of its time. Therefore, when one considers the nature of the relationship between men and women in the days in which the Bible was written, one is allowed to share the awe with which it must have been received by its original readers and contemporaries.

The Dignity of Women in Perspective of the Old Testament

The Old Testament has been accused by some as promoting an unhealthy attitude toward women. However, when read carefully and in its historical context, the Hebrew Scriptures is clearly far and away ahead of its contemporaries. From the prominence of Eve to the political power of Esther; from the prophecies of Deborah and Huldah to the prayers of Hannah; and to the patience of the Matriarchs, the Old Testament stands head and shoulders above any book of its time or claiming to be of its kind.

Divine Design In Human History

The perspective of women as dignified and valuable is seen throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. The Old Testament speaks not only of the high esteem in which women are held in the covenant community, but also of the great contribution of women throughout the history of Israel. Of course, the Bible was written in a real, historical context and certain unfortunate and inexcusable circumstances have been recorded. Some of the recorded relationships between men and women are not always consistent with the idea of women’s dignity and value. But these kinds of relationships are a result of the fall and not of God’s design. Jesus relegated divorce, and by extension, polygamy, to human sin, rather than divine design. Even though the Bible faithfully reports some incidences of unfaithful behavior, it acknowledges such behavior as dysfunctional and dangerous. And even though it records the behavior of fallen people in a covenant community, it also tells of God’s design and, as such, it is clearly more representative of the dignity of all persons than the cultural and societal environment in which its pages were formed.

Mothers In Israel

In the Hebrew Scriptures, women are seen clinging to hope, nurturing lives, developing ministers and preserving communities. Godly women are seen providing environments, encouragement and examples for some the Bible’s most significant figures—whether it’s Rebecca with Jacob or Naomi with Ruth.

The Mother Of All Living

From the earliest stages, women were expected to be co-laborers, co-regents and joint-heirs with men. Eve had as much responsibility to guard and cultivate the Garden of Eden as Adam (Genesis 1:27–31). They were both expected to be fruitful and multiply. They each embodied a mantle of God’s image and, as such, were expected to have dominion over the creation. As surely as woman came from man, man came through woman. There is, by design, a happy and healthy balance. The fall may have disrupted the balance, but Christ’s cross has restored it (Ephesians 5:22–27).

The Matriarchs

Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, sometimes known as the Mothers or Matriarchs, knew what it was like to travel as pilgrims in strange lands. Sarah and Rebecca knew what it was to have their lives and dignity threatened (Genesis 12:13; 20:3; 26:7) only to see God overturn the results of the doubts and fears of their husbands (Genesis 12:17; 20:3; 26:10). Rachel and Leah understood what it was to be devalued by their biological father (Genesis 31:14–15) only to be received as mothers of the covenant community (Genesis 33:1–3). These women patiently traveled with their husbands through untamed wilderness and unfriendly nations, often as the sole means of community and support for the Patriarchs. They waited in hope as they went from barrenness to fruitfulness. As they bore the children of miraculous grace, they became vessels of the covenant promise—nurturing their children in the worship of God and the hope of His faithfulness.

A Virtuous Woman

As the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews said, “Time will not permit” us to acknowledge and extol all of the women mentioned in the Old Testament who personify God’s perspective of the value and dignity of women. From Naomi and Ruth (Ruth 1:16–22), to Deborah and Jael (Judges 5:1–27); from Miriam (Exodus 15) to Abigail (1 Samuel 25) and Esther to Huldah (2 Kings 22:13–14) we can cover the gamut of women who have recognized and realized God’s estimation of their dignity. We could mention Hannah and her example to Samuel (1 Samuel 1) as well as Samson’s mother, who was told directly by God how she was to raise her son (Judges 13:2–7). We could cite the wife of Isaiah or the ideal wife of Proverbs 31. We could mention the Shulamite in the Song of Songs. We should also mention the Shunammite woman in the days of Elisha (2 Kings 4), and the widow in the days of Elijah. This widow was mentioned by Jesus as having been preferred in the days of Elijah over all the house of Israel (1 Kings 17:9–16; Luke 4:26). And this leads us to consider the perspective of Jesus regarding women.

However one chooses to develop, categorize, propagate and live out his or her ideas, everyone should strive toward a biblical understanding of humanity, equity, equality, dignity and liberty. If we do so, then we will see ministry and leadership from God’s perspective—the God who created man and woman in his image and after his likeness that we may exercise authority in his Holy Name. In short, let our prayer and perspective be: “Let justice run like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24).

~Women in Spiritual Leadership

GOD SPOKE THE WORD "SHABBAT"

Wow! Holy Spirit just said the word "Shabbat" and I looked it up and there is a Shabbat Candle-Lighting Tonight in Lawrence, KS. And this morning while straightening up the house he told me the word "BRAShYT" and I studied the word and was going to post the study on my blog later. Praise the Lord!

(09 May 2017)

"I praise you, Lord, because you are my light and my salvation,' and because you know what lies in darkness, and light dwells with you'. . . ." (Psalm 27:1, Daniel 2:22).

"I give you my praise, O Lord, because you have granted [me] eternal blessings and made me glad with the joy of your presence'. . . ." (Psalm 21:6).

The most precious things in life are said silently. Those who need to understand—those who are not strangers, those who hear the words from the inside—understand. Similarly with Shabbat: when G‑d gave it to us, He did not need to spell out its most precious customs.

Take a look: whenever the Torah mentions Shabbat, it always seems to be assuming that we know what it’s talking about. The Torah admonishes us to “keep the Shabbat” and “remember the Shabbat.” We are to rest on the seventh day from the work of the other six, and so are our servants and domesticated animals. Don’t make a fire. There’s a strong implication that we don’t build tabernacles on Shabbat. From all this we can figure out a lot of things that we are not supposed to do—such as anything that’s involved in building a tabernacle. But regarding what we are supposed to do, not a word. It seems that the Moses crowd just knew—perhaps by intuition, perhaps by tradition.

The prophet Isaiah, however, does elaborate a little on what Shabbat entails. His audience was, after all, a little more distant from the light of Sinai—and so needed things spelled out. He says, “If you restrain your foot because of the Sabbath, from performing your affairs on My holy day, and you will call the Sabbath ‘a delight’ and G‑d’s holy day ‘honored’

So, Shabbat is a day we are to honor and delight in. But how do you honor and delight in it? Apparently, Isaiah’s audience needed no further explanation. But in Talmudic times, things got to the point that it was necessary for the rabbis to spell out every word: you honor the Shabbat with clean clothes, and delight in it with fine food and drink.

Now, here’s where the Shabbat candles come in: Have you ever sat down to a delicious meal in the dark? Not too much fun. Who knows what that fork may end up piercing? But, worst of all, even the finest cuisine becomes a drab affair when you can’t see the colors, textures and forms of those delicious morsels. We are visual creatures, and even our capacity to derive pleasure from our food is tied to our visual experience. “A blind person,” the rabbis say, “is never satisfied from his food.”

And so, as long as Jews were interested in “calling the Shabbat a day of delight,” they must have had a lamp lit for the nighttime meal. It had to be lit beforehand, since—as we are told explicitly—we cannot create a fire on Shabbat.  And since it is the woman who generally takes the responsibilities of the home, presumably she took the responsibility for the lamp.

Yet it seems that later down the line, there were Jews who felt okay skimping on the visual experience.  Maybe the cost of oil was escalating. True, you can’t eat a meal without light and enjoy it.  But people said, “Let’s just eat it that way anyway, and say we did.” Now, if people don’t want to enjoy, it’s hard to tell them, “You must enjoy!” But sitting in a dark home all Shabbat creates other problems. Shabbat is meant to be a day of peace and harmony. A dark house, with people tripping over every unseen obstacle and falling all over each other is not conducive to peace and harmony...

So, at some unspecified point in history, for the sake of shalom bayit (family harmony), the spiritual leaders of the generation made a distinct requirement that every home must have a lamp lit before Shabbat in every room where people may walk and bump into things. They declared that anyone who would be careful with it would be blessed with children who would be Torah scholars, as the verse states, “For a mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah is light.” They interpreted this to mean that through the mitzvah of the lamp would come the light of Torah.

Nevertheless, the principal lamp is the one that shines over the Shabbat meal. The other lamps can be replaced today with electric lights, but the light by the meal should be a burning flame—unless that’s just not possible (e.g., in a hospital).

Now you can see that the Shabbat lamp, even though it is technically a rabbinic institution, has always been an integral part of the Shabbat. Our tradition is that Abraham and Sarah kept the entire Torah even though it was not yet given. They knew the Torah from their understanding of the inner mechanics of the universe. Sarah lit the Shabbat lamp, as did Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. It’s reasonable to believe that at no time in our history did a Friday night pass without that light. And with that light we will enter into the “day that is entirely Shabbat and rest for eternal life.” May that time come sooner than we can imagine. ~Rabbi Tzvi Freeman

Candle-Lighting Times for Shabbat & Holidays

My Glimpses of Heaven with Divine Guidance